Method and system for inventory data sharing between airlines

Abstract

The method according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention allows a single computerized Inventory system to access multiple sources of Inventory data for different airlines in real-time; without a performance hit on the inventory system; without needing specific interfaces to be put in place; and without needing duplication of data. A customer request requiring inventory data from some other airlines is detected on the airline Inventory system. For each other airline involved in the action that has been detected, a component holding access rules is queried to check whether the airline has the permission to access the other airline inventory data, and the precise data to which it has access. For each other airline involved in the action that has been detected and for which the airline has the permission to access inventory data, the airline Inventory system connects to the other airline partition, retrieve the required current other airline inventory data, and disconnects from the other airline partition. The action that has previously been detected is finally processed, taking into account all the other airline inventory data.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for managing a plurality of flight inventory databases each associated with one of a plurality of airlines, the method comprising:
 receiving, at a server from a reservation client module of a first airline, a first customer request to access a flight inventory database of a second airline; 
 querying, by the server, a repository of access rules to retrieve first access rules defining a partition of the flight inventory database of the second airline that can be accessed by the first airline; 
 verifying, by the server, whether the first access rules authorize the first airline to access a portion of data in the flight inventory database of the second airline that is necessary to satisfy the first customer request; 
 responsive to the authorization being verified, connecting, by the server, to the partition of the flight inventory database of the second airline; 
 retrieving, by the server, the portion of data from the partition of the flight inventory database of the second airline; 
 transmitting, by the server, the portion of data retrieved from the partition of the flight inventory database of the second airline to the reservation client module of the first airline; and 
 disconnecting, by the server, from the partition of the flight inventory database of the second airline. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 while the server is connected to the flight inventory database of the second airline to retrieve the portion of data, locking the portion of data of the flight inventory database of the second airline to prevent concurrent write access by the reservation client module of any other airline of the plurality of airlines. 
 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1  wherein the plurality of airlines are members of the same airlines alliance. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1  wherein the first access rules include authorized operations that can be performed on each portion of data. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 4  further comprising:
 responsive to the server retrieving the portion of data of the flight inventory database of the second airline, allowing the reservation client module of the first airline to perform the authorized operations on the portion of data. 
 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 5  wherein the authorized operations include checking availability of a flight. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 5  wherein the authorized operations include reserving a flight. 
     
     
       8. A computer program product for managing a plurality of flight inventory databases each associated with one of a plurality of airlines, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium including program code configured to, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:
 receive, from a reservation client module of a first airline, a customer request to access a flight inventory database of a second airline; 
 query a repository of access rules to retrieve access rules defining a partition of the flight inventory database of the second airline that can be accessed by the first airline; 
 verify whether the access rules authorize the first airline to access a portion of data in the the flight inventory database of the second airline that is necessary to satisfy the customer request; 
 responsive to the authorization being verified, connect to the partition of the flight inventory database of the second airline; 
 retrieve the portion of data from the partition of the flight inventory database of the second airline; 
 transmit the portion of data retrieved from the partition of the flight inventory database of the second airline to the reservation client module of the first airline; and 
 disconnect from the partition of the flight inventory database of the second airline. 
 
     
     
       9. A data processing system for managing a plurality of flight inventory databases each associated with one of a plurality of airlines, the system comprising:
 a server including at least one processor, a repository of access rules defining partitions of flight inventory databases of airlines that can be accessed by a first airline, and program code configured to be executed by the at least one processor and upon execution to cause the server to: 
 receive, from a reservation client module of the first airline, a first customer request to access a flight inventory database of a second airline; 
 query the repository to retrieve first access rules defining a partition of the flight inventory database of the second airline that can be accessed by the first airline; 
 verify whether the first access rules authorize the first airline to access a portion of data in the flight inventory database of the second airline that is necessary to satisfy the first customer request; 
 responsive to the authorization being verified, connect to the partition of the flight inventory database of the second airline; 
 retrieve the portion of data from the partition of the flight inventory database of the second airline; 
 transmit the portion of data retrieved from the partition of the flight inventory database of the second airline to the reservation client module of the first airline; and 
 disconnect from the partition of the flight inventory database of the second airline. 
 
     
     
       10. The computer program product of  claim 8  wherein the program code further causes the computer to:
 while connected to the partition of the flight inventory database of the second airline to retrieve the portion of data, lock the portion of data to prevent concurrent write access by the reservation client module of any other airline of the plurality of airlines. 
 
     
     
       11. The computer program product of  claim 8  wherein the access rules include authorized operations that can be performed on each portion of data, and the program code further causes the computer to:
 responsive to retrieving the portion of data of the flight inventory database of the second airline, allow the reservation client module of the first airline to perform the authorized operations on the portion of data. 
 
     
     
       12. The data processing system of  claim 9  wherein the program code is configured to cause the server to:
 while connected to the flight inventory database of the second airline to retrieve the portion of data, lock the portion of data of the flight inventory database of the second airline to prevent concurrent write access by the reservation client module of any other airline of the plurality of airlines. 
 
     
     
       13. The data processing system of  claim 9  wherein the plurality of airlines are members of the same airlines alliance. 
     
     
       14. The data processing system of  claim 9  wherein the first access rules include authorized operations that can be performed on each portion of data. 
     
     
       15. The data processing system of  claim 14  wherein the program code is configured to cause the server to:
 responsive to retrieving the portion of data of the flight inventory database of the second airline, allow the reservation client module of the first airline to perform the authorized operations on the portion of data. 
 
     
     
       16. The data processing system of  claim 14  wherein the authorized operations include checking availability of a flight. 
     
     
       17. The data processing system of  claim 14  wherein the authorized operations include reserving a flight. 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 receiving, at the server from a reservation client module of the second airline, a second customer request to access a flight inventory database of the first airline; 
 querying, by the server, the repository of access rules to retrieve second access rules defining a partition of the flight inventory database of the first airline that can be accessed by the second airline; 
 verifying, by the server, whether the second access rules authorize the second airline to access a portion of data in the flight inventory database of the first airline that is necessary to satisfy the second customer request; and 
 responsive to the authorization being verified, connecting, by the server, to the partition of the flight inventory database of the first airline. 
 
     
     
       19. The data processing system of  claim 9  wherein the program code is further configured to cause the server to:
 receive, from a reservation client module of the second airline, a second customer request to access a flight inventory database of the first airline; 
 query the repository of access rules to retrieve second access rules defining a partition of the flight inventory database of the first airline that can be accessed by the second airline; 
 verify whether the second access rules authorize the second airline to access a portion of data in the flight inventory database of the first airline that is necessary to satisfy the second customer request; and 
 responsive to the authorization being verified, connect to the partition of the flight inventory database of the first airline.